Looking to get into big game

Hello everyone. I'm new here. I grew up in a non hunting home. When I was in high school my uncle my uncle took me duck hunting. I was hooked. I now have a family and will always hunt waterfowl but I'm looking at getting into big game hunting. I live in Utah and I'm wanting an all around rifle for the deer and elk here. Seems like out west here the shots are longer shots. Not really sure. My birthday is coming up and my wife is planning on getting me a rifle. She asked some of my friends for advice. I was thinking a 7mm 300 wsm or a 308. Friends told her she couldn't go wrong with a 30-06.

Welcome. I think you will find this site very useful to your new hobby.

My first rifle (that I bought in 1968) was a Sako Finnbear 30-06. It is still one of my favorites however with the advent of the muzzle brake there are better choices if elk are going to be on the menu. A 300 WSM is not a bad choice but they are usually packaged in light short quick handling rifles which results in more recoil than most people can handle. A muzzle brake on such a rifle will make it fun too shoot and may allow you to spot your own shots at longer ranges. Plus you will tend to shoot it more if it doesn't kick the crap out of you. (You can get a Muscle brake or similar for around $115 if I recall and get it installed by a gunsmith for another $100 or so.) A brake will make it too loud to shoot without hearing protection but that is easy to solve. A set of ear plugs hung around your neck, muffs, electronic muffs all work.

Water fowl- rifle is more important than the caliber. a remington sendero or a remington long would be at the top of the list depending on budget and how far you plan on shooting. . sako 85 , 75 or pre-garcia.

A 30/06 is a great caliber. Its something you cant go wrong with. Its also not that expensive to shoot and you can usually find ammo everywhere for it. This is a great round to start with. I've killed anything from crows to elk with my 30/06. Savage makes a great factory rifle for the money. Extreemly accurate and very dependable. Remington 700 is also a very fine rifle. Make sure you don't go cheap on the scope. People on this site will post page after page of what caliber you should choose and why, but all will agree that you should get nice scope. It really makes a difference. You don't have to spend a couple grand on a rifle. You can get a nice factory hunting rifle for $800-$1100 that will almost shoot as nice as a custom. But plan on spending at least $500 on the scope.

Water fowl- rifle is more important than the caliber. a remington sendero or a remington long would be at the top of the list depending on budget and how far you plan on shooting. . sako 85 , 75 or pre-garcia.

If i was in utah i would get either a 7mm rem or a 30-06. still the rifle is more important than the cartridge.

A 30/06 is a great caliber. Its something you cant go wrong with. Its also not that expensive to shoot and you can usually find ammo everywhere for it. This is a great round to start with. I've killed anything from crows to elk with my 30/06. Savage makes a great factory rifle for the money. Extreemly accurate and very dependable. Remington 700 is also a very fine rifle. Make sure you don't go cheap on the scope. People on this site will post page after page of what caliber you should choose and why, but all will agree that you should get nice scope. It really makes a difference. You don't have to spend a couple grand on a rifle. You can get a nice factory hunting rifle for $800-$1100 that will almost shoot as nice as a custom. But plan on spending at least $500 on the scope.